Karl Schranz

Karl Schranz
Schranz at Kitzbühel
Personal information
Born (1938-11-18) 18 November 1938 (age 86)
St. Anton, Tyrol, Austria
OccupationAlpine skier
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, giant slalom, slalom, combined
World Cup debutJanuary 1967 (age 28)
inaugural season
RetiredFebruary 1972 (age 33)
Websitekarlschranz.com
Olympics
Teams3 – (1960, 1964, 1968)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 – (196070)
includes three Olympics
Medals6 (3 gold)
World Cup
Seasons6 – (196772)
Wins12 – (8 DH, 4 GS)
Podiums23 – (12 DH, 9 GS, 2 SL)
Overall titles2 – (1969, 1970)
Discipline titles3 – (2 DH, 1 GS)
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Austria
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Slalom 0 1 1
Giant slalom 4 1 4
Downhill 8 1 3
Total 12 3 8
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1964 Innsbruck Giant slalom
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1962 Chamonix Downhill
Gold medal – first place 1962 Chamonix Combined
Gold medal – first place 1970 Val Gardena Giant slalom
Silver medal – second place 1962 Chamonix Giant slalom
Bronze medal – third place 1966 Portillo Giant slalom

Karl Schranz (born 18 November 1938) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria, one of the best of the 1960s and early 1970s.

Born and raised in St. Anton, Tyrol, Schranz had a lengthy ski career, from 1957 to 1972. He won twenty major downhills, many major giant slalom races and several major slaloms. Late in his career he was the successor to Jean-Claude Killy as the World Cup overall champion; Schranz won the title at age 30 in the third World Cup season of 1969, and repeated in 1970. He was also the downhill champion for those two seasons and was the giant slalom season champion in 1969. Schranz won both the "classic downhills" four times each: the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel, Austria (1966, 1969, 1972, 1972), and the Lauberhorn at Wengen, Switzerland (1959, 1963, 1966, 1969). He also excelled at the legendary Arlberg-Kandahar events, winning nine times, from 1957 (Chamonix) to 1970 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen).